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The problem to me is the cost, and the number of people who will be served in year 1, 5, 10, etc. The cost is known to be extremely high and only a special few will be served before the system would have made steady progress for at least 50 to 100 yrs. Why make that kind of investment when we can hardly fund our school system? And if the light rail riders were charged the true cost in the early years, who would pay $10+ a mile to ride?
Why do it now, as in, why modify the infrastructure to accommodate the massive growth and try and ease road congestion before it reaches Atlanta proportions? Waiting to build it until after it's desperately needed holds very little appeal.
The rising generation, those in college and high school now, will embrace public transportation (my two teenagers are psyched about it). I'm not jazzed about it myself but they've convinced me to reconsider my position.
I think we're forgetting that the projected completion date of the light rail project is in 2025/2026.......that's in 10-11 years! Overall the timeframe of large-scale rail/road projects is about 10-15 years from initial concept to final construction so you can't just look at a project today and say that it isn't needed based on current transportation needs. Like NYC2RDU said, it's always better to be proactive than reactive.
I used to work with a guy who if I came to work with a cold, he proclaimed that he had pernicious pneumonia.
I swear, if I had said I was pregnant, he would have claimed to be carrying twins.
Why do it now, as in, why modify the infrastructure to accommodate the massive growth and try and ease road congestion before it reaches Atlanta proportions? Waiting to build it until after it's desperately needed holds very little appeal.
The rising generation, those in college and high school now, will embrace public transportation (my two teenagers are psyched about it). I'm not jazzed about it myself but they've convinced me to reconsider my position.
I often chuckle to myself when I hear that. Outside of the high income areas of the country (Washington DC, San Francisco, etc.) public transit is not something to get psyched about. That happens when people don't really know what public transit is really like in most cities around the country.
Here's a picture I took a couple weeks ago on a SEPTA bus. That liquid on the floor is urine. A drunk passenger just decided to unzip and pee on the floor. I can promise you the first time a middle class or upper middle class kid sees that first hand, that will be the last time they get "jazzed" about public transit.
Owning a car is an extremely inexpensive way to get around. Public transit on the other had can be very expensive. The reason so many poor folks ride public transit is because their rides are subsidized by the local government, with free passes.
Raleigh is not the tri-state area with 13 million residents, or like DC with it's logistical traffic issues (ie rivers, bridges, "off limit" government areas, etc), or like San Francisco with it's high rises and expensive real estate. It won't ever be. It's not geographically limited like those areas.
Having spent nearly my entire life in Washington DC, and Atlanta, GA... I find it utterly hilarious when people around here complain about traffic.
I grew up in the DC area too and I'm not saying traffic here measures up to that area, but people have a right to complain about whatever they want. Just because something is worse somewhere else, doesn't mean their complaint doesn't hold merit.
I often chuckle to myself when I hear that. Outside of the high income areas of the country (Washington DC, San Francisco, etc.) public transit is not something to get psyched about. That happens when people don't really know what public transit is really like in most cities around the country.
What about what public transit is really like in other cities around the world? I've traveled a little and some cities/countries have amazing public transit/rail systems. For some reason, it's hard to pull that off here in the US.
I often chuckle to myself when I hear that. Outside of the high income areas of the country (Washington DC, San Francisco, etc.) public transit is not something to get psyched about. That happens when people don't really know what public transit is really like in most cities around the country.
I think you are really underestimating people. Many people travel, many (hell, perhaps most) people have lived places other than this area.
They are well aware of both the ups and downs of public transportation. Sure, you will sometimes get some crazy characters on it, such is life. People still like having the convenience of having other options for travel that don't depend on a car.
And I'm not sure why you separated out wealthy areas. If you think there are never some odd characters on SF or DC's public transportation you are very mistaken.
I think you are really underestimating people. Many people travel, many (hell, perhaps most) people have lived places other than this area.
They are well aware of both the ups and downs of public transportation. Sure, you will sometimes get some crazy characters on it, such is life. People still like having the convenience of having other options for travel that don't depend on a car.
And I'm not sure why you separated out wealthy areas. If you think there are never some odd characters on SF or DC's public transportation you are very mistaken.
I rode DC's subway for about 1.5 years. Not once did I see someone pee on the train.
That being said I do see bums peeing in San Francisco out in the open all the time downtown!
Raleigh just doesn't have the density that major cities have to take advantage of public transit. It doesn't even make sense in Charlotte and they are stuffing it down the taxpayers throats.
Here are the simulations - the routes aren't final yet (neither are the stations) - the video is long, but you can click around it. Impact on traffic would be minimal, I think - the people WRAL spoke to clearly haven't seen this.
Raleigh isn't included because they won't participate. Foolish IMO and short-sighted, but I guess they can always jump on the bandwagon later.
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